Oct 31, 2019, Atlanta Journal Constitution: Some parents say special ed students slighted as DeKalb fills shortage https://www.ajc.com/news/local-education/some-parents-say-special-students-slighted-dekalb-fills-shortage/vt6u7OvAGRamjxra8pUnDM/# DeKalb County School District said this year it would not let a critical special education teacher shortage affect learning, but some parents say their special-needs students are not consistently receiving guaranteed specialized instruction. Among the concerns early into this school year are teachers not identifying student behaviors that could trigger outbursts, some students missing co-teachers or aides to assist with individualized learning and officials disregarding the need for additional time during testing. … “My job is to get quality teachers in there,” she said. District officials did not respo nd to questions about the concerns parents raised about specialized education plans not being followed. Taylor said her son suffers from dyslexia. And because of a short-term working memory, his education plan calls for homework assignments to be communicated with his parents…. Teresa Wright Johnson’s 14-year-old, diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, has an IEP that affords her more time for assignments, sometimes breaking up assignments into parts. The teen understands what assistance she is guaranteed through her education plan. Her daughter’s teacher also is good at communication, Johnson said. … “If the teacher is not aware, (the students) are not getting the accommodations they need to be successful,” she said. You run into a lot more behavioral issues. Emotionally, it’s not good for that child, then that disciplinarian stuff comes up in school.”…
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Childhood Lost
Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).
Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.
Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism
http://www.ageofautism.com/media/
(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)
What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless.
John Stone,
UK media editor, Age of Autism
The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
It seemed to me that with rising autism prevalence, you’d also see rising autism costs to society, and it turns out, the costs are catastrophic.
They calculated that in 2015 autism cost the United States $268 billion and they projected that if autism continues at its current rate, we’re looking at one trillion dollars a year in autism costs by 2025, so within five years.
Toby Rogers, PhD, Political economist
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